Trump says he will lift sanctions on Turkey, ‘consider’ selling F-35s | Donald Trump News

The announcement at the Ankara summit reflects the US’s stance, despite opposition from Israel.

United States President Donald Trump has said he will lift sanctions on Turkey and will soon decide to resume sales of F-35s.

The comments came Tuesday as Trump met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara.

The pivot comes after the US expelled Turkey from the F-35 program after Ankara acquired Russian S-400 missiles in 2019. Washington also imposed sanctions under the so-called Counting America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

“We’re going to lift the sanctions,” Trump told reporters.

Sitting next to Erdogan, Trump said that he would soon decide to sell US F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.

“That’s the idea that we’re going to make … it’s the best plane, the best plane by far and it’s something that we’re going to consider,” Trump said.

Any move to return Turkey to the F-35 program must overcome a 2020 law requiring the president’s administration to declare that Ankara no longer hosts or uses Russian systems.

CAATSA’s sanctions, meanwhile, targeted Turkey’s President’s Defense Industries and included US licensing restrictions as well as financial and banking restrictions.

Erdogan, for his part, told reporters that he expects a “good decision” on the F-35s, adding that Turkey has already been promised five planes.

Trump’s meeting with Erdogan comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressuring the US not to resume F-35 sales to Turkey.

Speaking on Monday on Fox News, Netanyahu said that the sale of F-35s to Turkey “will disrupt the power in the Middle East, which is determined by the rise of Israel’s air force, and, I think, by America’s position in the Middle East”.

This comes as the Trump administration has been angered by its close ally Israel, where Israel’s military presence in Lebanon has repeatedly threatened to derail the first ceasefire agreement to end the US-Israel war on Iran.

Relations between Turkey and Israel have soured in recent years, although the two countries are expanding trade ties ahead of Israel. a murderous war in Gaza. Turkey has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian enclave.

It remains to be seen how the move to sell F-35s to Turkey will be received by US lawmakers.

But speaking to Turkiye Today on Tuesday, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch supporter of Israel, said he was optimistic.

“There may be a push in Congress, but a solution may be found,” he said.